We want to understand better why some women are affected by these severe reactions, while others aren’t. More, we want to know how to help them.

The PIEPE (Psychological Impact of Early Pregnancy Events) study looks at how common, and how severe, these different conditions are. We followed a number of couples over 9 months, using an online email survey to find out who is most at risk of long-term mental health problems. A precursor to this research, where women completed questionnaires 1 and 3 months after losing a baby, found that around a third of women showed signs of PTSD. Many women who took part struggled with emotional distress and upsetting, intrusive thoughts reminding them of their loss.

We are also testing a certain type of therapy – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT, which tries to remove the power of distressing thoughts – to see if it can help women diagnosed with PTSD.

If you have experienced a miscarriage and need to talk to someone, please call our free helpline on 0800 0147 800 between 9-5, Monday to Friday, or find more information here.

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